SF Dog Group Plans Suit Over GGNRA Rules

As the National Park Service readies to adopt more restrictive canine access rules throughout the sprawling Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a San Francisco-based dog owners group has vowed to file suit over the dog management plan.

Park officials and dog owners have been fighting over the proposed rules for the last 14 years, as they will curtail off-leash access to many GGNRA sites dog owners frequent, particularly Ocean Beach, Crissy Field, and Fort Funston in San Francisco. Last Thursday, December 8, the Park Service released its Final Environmental Impact Statement setting out the new dog management proposal it expects will be adopted in early 2017.

While the Park Service amended its last proposal based on more than 4,100 comments it received this year, dog advocates contend the plan released last week will still result in a 90 percent reduction in off-leash dog areas in the GGNRA. And the San Francisco Dog Owners Group is already preparing to sue to block its implementation.

The group has lined up pro bono legal representation with attorney Christopher J. Carr, a partner at Morrison and Foerster who chairs the San Francisco firm's environment and energy group.

"The GGNRA is trying to finally ram this through, and we are fully prepared to file a lawsuit as soon as it is," said Sally Stephens, SF DOG's longtime chair.

Park officials contend the GGNRA is the most dog-friendly park overseen by the National Park Service and will remain so under the new rules. Plus, noted GGNRA Acting General Superintendent Jim Milestone, it will continue to be the only one to offer off-leash dog recreation.

"The dog management plan seeks to balance recreation and preservation at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, increase visitor safety by providing space for all types of recreational users, and protect park resources for future generations," said Milestone, who is shown with his dog, Hanna, on the plan's webpage.

The Park Service's preferred alternative identifies 22 locations for dog walking at GGNRA, including sites at six locations that would welcome dogs under voice and sight control, meaning off-leash. In certain areas, a permit from the Park Service would be needed in order to walk four to six dogs at once.

Nearly one third (31 percent) of the mileage on the park's beaches and more than one third (34 percent) of the mileage on trails would be available for dog walking. At Ocean Beach, dogs off-leash would be restricted to an area south of the Cliff House, between stairwells 1 through 21, which is across from the Beach Chalet.

"It makes no sense to ban dogs from most of Ocean Beach," said Joel Engardio, a gay man who made off-leash dog access in the parks a major focus of his failed bid for a San Francisco supervisor seat this fall. "If they are going to compact the off-leash area into such a small area that is going to be bedlam. It is better to spread it out."

At Fort Funston, the plan calls for more than 18 acres on the cliff overlooking the ocean to be off-leash in addition to the beach area below. Most of the trails and parking lots would designated as on-leash, though there will be off-leash access to the beach.

At Crissy Field, dogs would be permitted in most places under the plan, said the Park Service. Approximately 40 percent of the airfield, more than had been initially proposed, and 40 percent of the beachfront mileage would be available for off-leash dog use. In addition, much of the airfield (83 percent), the East Beach picnic area, and nearly all of the trails would be open to dogs on leash.

In response to complaints from San Mateo County residents, the Park Service is proposing to designate an off-leash dog area at the Flat Top section of Rancho Corral de Tierra in Montara on the Peninsula south of San Francisco.

Nonetheless, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo) said she remained "disappointed" with the decision to designate most of the GGNRA as off limits to dogs and their owners.

"I appreciate the Park Service's compromise, but it does not go far enough to address the full scope of what dog walkers reasonably requested," stated Speier. "However, after 14 years of gridlock, I am relieved to see some movement in the right direction by the Park Service. I have always made it very clear to the Park Service that it is unacceptable to have no off-leash dog walking in San Mateo County."

The Park Service will publish a Record of Decision in the Federal Register sometime in January, with a final rule setting out the plan's effective date to follow sometime after.

The full dog management plan, including maps of the affected areas, can be downloaded at https://www.nps.gov/goga/getinvolved/dog-plan-feis.htm